Banquet

Up on the balcony the Arabian King slammed his hand on his gold throne.

"How dare you!" A vein popped and his face grew red with anger.

"Guards arrest her!" The king yelled but immediately a women sitting next to him immediately stopped him.

"My king. You mustn't be angry. The essence of this game is the danger it has." The women used a soothing voice that sounded both calming and sexy.

"But I can not have others believe that they can intentionally kill my daughter right in front of me! I want that girl killed!" The king raged.

The women patted the king's chest. "My king, I understand your worry. However remember that there are other royalties here, you're image would be ruined if you sentence her to death right now."

Of course the king also knows this but he couldn't keep in his anger. How could he be calm when his own daughter was just killed right in front of his eyes! But hearing it from the women next to her helped him calm down. He looked at the field as the last round of plank archery began. His eyes followed his daughter and softened when he saw how pale she was. Princess Adela was still shocked with hw close to death she was. This event would permanently scar her from now on.

Of the five planks, Princess Adela only hit one.

The king's heart ached seeing his daughter so weak. The Arabian king has a giant harem where he has tens of concubines and hundreds of mistresses. He had about thirty kids but only about 15 are still alive. Of his 15 children he only has four daughters and the rest are sons. Princess Adela is the third princess but is the most spoiled because she is the daughter of him and the queen.

His eyes never left his precious daughter and he ignored the sexy women sitting beside him. His eyes didn't leave Adela until Princess Adela rode past Mingxia did he avert his gaze to Mingxia.

"I have to reward her for saving Adela." He murmured.

He looked at his advisor who was sitting on his right side. "After the games prepare a party and invite all the competitors. But remember to personally invite my daughter's savior, I have to reward her."

His advisor nodded and the king focused his attention back on his beloved daughter.

As expected Mingxia hit the most planks and gained the most points. Second place went to the daughter of a french duke and third place went to Princess Adela. The quiet girl placed fourth but the judge did not bother to call out her name.

Once again, Mingxia is asked to choose a reward from the prize section. Mingxia walked around and examined each of the prizes. In the end she chose a beautiful steel dagger.

The next competition was the horseback archery for men and there was much more competitors. The crowd was much more enthusiastic and cheered nonstop for the entire round. As expected Zong Ching took part in this competition and became a close second with 105 points. First place went to an Arab Prince who seemed very stern and quiet. He chose a magnificent sword as his reward and the second competition ended. Day 1 of the Games ended with that, the sword competition is to be held tomorrow and Mingxia does not need to participate.

She had originally planned to get a good night rest in the Wei estate located in India but unfortunately the Arabian royal family has set up a party for the competitors. Mingxia couldn't decline the offer since on of the king's advisors purposely came to invite her and had to go despite her annoyance. She purposely chose to wear grey robes with her hair tied up like a man to show irritated she was while Xing could only cry in the corner.

Xing knew about the party being held after the competition and had purposely prepared a mint green and a hazy yellow dress for Mingxia to wear. She knew that Mingxia wouldn't want to go and had chosen the simplest and most comfortable dress for Mingxia but who knew Mingxia would refuse to wear the dress? However Xing did notice that Mingxia had taken the box, that contained the fan, with her and kept it hidden in her robes.

Mingxia got onto the carriage with Xing sitting beside her and the carriage began to move. The carriage brought them to a stunning estate with a beautiful courtyard filled with fine busheries and a large pool filled with crystal clear water. This courtyard circled around a magnificent mansion that consists of five pillars, one of four sides and the tallest in the center, on top of these pillars were spherical domes that had a golden glow to it.

Mingxia's carriage followed after a long line of carriages that was going to the same destination, making her wait for quite some time. When she finally arrived night had fallen and the sky was dark.

She stepped out and followed after the crowd of people entering the mansion.

Truth be said, she was absolutely shocked with how stunning the mansion was. This was just a mansion and yet it looked more like a castle. Mingxia was escorted into the ballroom where a mixture of both genders were dancing to an upbeat music.

She was escorted to her seat and sat down next to the other competitors. The moment she sat down the lights dimmed and the the attention was brought to the Arabian prince who stood up.

"Welcome everyone to my banquet! This banquet may be small but I hope everyone enjoys their time here. May the banquet now commence!" His speech ended with a loud applause from the crowds and the prince sat back down next to his father.

The king had a proud smile on his face and patted his son's arm to show how proud he was.

Mingxia watched with a bored expression as she sat in her seat. All the other female competitors came wearing gowns fit for dancing and were all asked to dance while no one asked her. Probably it was because of her outfit or was it because of the annoyed expression on her face that no one dared to approach her.

This expression quickly changed when the servant began to come out with platters and platters of food. Her annoyance quickly became excitement and she took a portion from each platter. At the end, her plate was filled with food. She ate happily and made sure to constraint herself from wolfing down the delicious foods in front of her.

Zong Qiu chucked as he watched her eat from his seat located across the room from her.

'Time to pay her a visit.' He stood up and slowly made his way across the room.